Everwinter: The Forerunner Archives (48 page)

Poor Altair.

He was as much a pawn of my parents as I was.

"Somebody's opening the door!" Traylor calls to me through the glass tube. I nod my head backward, indicating that he should hide behind the cloning machine.

He does.

The door opens.

I nearly scream the breather out of my mouth.

It's Altair!

Traylor sees him too, rushing over, embracing the Assassin in a full on hug. Altair smiles, ruffling my little brother's hair. They're talking, but they're too far away for me to make it out. Traylor points at the tank and Altair's face goes pale. He rushes over, concerned.

"Are you okay?" he mouths at me.

I nod that I am.

In fact, seeing Altair, I've never been
more
okay in my life.

What happened out there?

Did Altair stop my Father? Did he kill him?

Where's Ursa? And Jude?

There was a bright flash of light out there just a little while ago. We saw it under the door. Did the Cortex go off?

What happened to my clone?

"I'm gonna get you out of there," Altair calls to me. I study his face, seeing that it's still covered with that rash and tumors.

If the Cortex
did
go off, it didn't work.

I nod at him again.

Altair dashes out of the room, returning moments later with a hulking behemoth.

An Everwinter mutant.

Pilcrow
.

My heart hammers in fear, but Altair appears to be friendly toward the monster. He points at my tank and Pilcrow nods. He stomps over to me, stepping in behind my tank.

"Get ready," I hear Pilcrow say.

I shake my head.
Oh hells...

Pilcrow pushes the tank over.

It doesn't shatter but the top pops off, sending the suspension fluid–and me along with it–rushing across the floor in a flood. The breather is ripped from my mouth and I scream in pain and terror. 

But I can breathe.

Altair is at my side in seconds, helping me to sit up. I cough and spit, suspension fluid dripping off my face and into my mouth. "You alright?" Altair asks, smiling at me, slapping my back as I choke.

"What the bloody hells was that?" I ask, lobbing a massive glob of fluid in Altair's direction. He deftly ducks it and laughs at me.

"Sorry," he says. "Seemed like the quickest way."

I laugh too. "Well, it
was,
" I reply
.

66.

"I take it it didn't work," I say, staring at my dead clone, still hanging like a scarecrow inside the Cortex. I've cleaned most of the suspension fluid off my body and can walk pretty well on my own now.

"No, it didn't," Altair r
eplies, scowling at Pilcrow, standing on the other side of the Evernight Skytower, staring off into space.

"I wonder why," I ask. "This clone is perfect. It's me to a T." We stare at my mirror image for a silent moment. Even Traylor is quiet for once.

"Because she's not
you
," a familiar voice echoes up from somewhere on the floor.

Stunned, I moved around
the back of the Cortex to find Ursa, bleeding but alive, propped up against the machine. I'd already seen the corpses of my Father and Jude, moved into another room already, but one look was all I'd needed.

I hate both of them.

"In the name of the gods, Ursa!" I say, going to my knees next to my Mother. "How are you still alive?"

"I've been wondering that myself," she says with a weak smile. She's got her tunic wrapped around her chest as a makeshift tourniquet. "I'll survive. I've been through worse."

"Tell me about it," I reply.

"
I'm so sorry, Juno," Ursa says, "for
everything
. You should
never
have had to go through all this."

I sigh. "I know, Ursa. I know. I'm sorry too." Ursa nods. "I don't blame you for
all
of this. Some of it, yeah, but not all. Father was the real monster here." Ursa nods weakly again.

An awkward silence descends.

"So, what now?" I ask. "The Cortex didn't work. Why?"

"Because there's something special about you, Juno," Ursa explains. "Something that can
not be replicated or duplicated as much as we tried. As much as the cumpewters said we'd perfectly copied your DNA down to the gene, there's just something about you that the Cortex needs to create its mutation curing pulse."

"Like a soul?" I ask, dumbfounded.

Ursa shrugs. "I really don't know."

"I see," I say, hesitating. "And what if I climbed into that machine right now? What would happen?"

"Juno, no!" Traylor objects. Altair nods his vehement agreement next to my brother.

"It's just a question," I say, feigning indignance.

"You would likely save every life on this planet," Ursa replies. "Mutant and human alike. We would
all
be cured." 

"Right," I say. "And what would happen to me? Would I die?"

Ursa drops her gaze. "I don't know," she replies. "I really don't. The clones never survived. But you're special, Juno. There's a chance–"

"I'll take it," I say, cutting her off.

"Juno!" Traylor whines again.

I turn to my little brother, smiling at him
motherly. I lean down and pull him into a deep embrace. "I have to, buddy," I say. "You
know
what will happen if I don't. The human race is doomed. Everyone will die of cancer, and those that don't won't be able to breed to replenish our numbers." I sigh. "And you and I will be the only ones left to watch it happen. We'll be alone, Traylor. Just you and me. You know I
have
to do this."

Traylor nods, sobbing into
my shoulder. "I know," he says. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” He pulls away from me, giving me a peck on the cheek. "I love you," he says. "You are my sister, but I looked up to you like a mother." Ursa winces at that.

"I love you too, little buddy," I say, and we leave it at that.

I turn to Ursa, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Take care, Mother. You'll have to run this thing once I'm inside." Ursa nods, then gets on her knees, struggling to her feet. "I love you, Juno," she says. "I never stopped. I hope you know that."

"I do," I reply, but I don't return the sentiment. I don't hate Ursa, but I don't love her either.
I’m indifferent. She’s got a lot of mistakes to make up for, and she's
not
my Mother, despite the fact I’d just called her that. Hopefully, she can do right by Traylor.

I turn to face Altair, but he's on the other side of the machine already, releasing the cor
pse of my clone from its bonds as Ursa instructs him. I walk around to him. "You okay with this?" I ask, seeing he's reverted to the old Altair, cold and emotionless.

"Woul
d it matter if I wasn't?" he asks. "Like you said, you have no choice."

"Don't be like that," I say, grabbing him by the hand. "I care about you, Altair. A lot."

He sighs, finally meeting my gaze. "I care about you too," he says. "A lot." He adds a smile.

I pull him into a hug. "Thank you," I whisper in his ear. "For everything. You saved me in more ways than you'll ever know."

He nods. "You too.” He pulls away from me. "Are you ready?"

"No,” I say, and I kiss him, warm and soft and slow and all too brief. I break it off. “
Now
I am,” I say. He smiles at me. “See you on the other side." I step into the Cortex, putting my hands and feet into position. "Okay, Ursa. Do it!"

I hear Ursa grumble something behind me, but she does as commanded, tapping on the keyboard on the machine. My
hands and feet lock in place, not exactly comfortable. A peculiar sensation tingles at my wrists and ankles, coursing slowly throughout my entire body. My claustrophobia ramps up, but I ignore it.

Now's not the time.

Altair and Traylor stand before me; the two most important men in my life.

"I love you," I say, my eyes locked on Altair.

"I know," Altair returns with a smirk.

It's the last image I'll have of him.

Seconds later, the strange tingling in my body is replaced by searing pain. I scream, the world seeming to get brighter and brighter. I look down and see that it's me.

I'm glowing.

My body is the source of all light in the world.

I am the sun.

I hold it in, as long as I possibly dare.

It burns. It sears.

And then I let it out.

And it is good.

67.

"Juno? Hey, Juno! Wake up!"

I open my eyes.

Before me is the familiar face of my brother, all smiles, staring down at me like I'm the greatest hero he's ever seen. I'm on my back, staring up at the faux night sky of the Evernight Skytower. There's something soft under me.

Blankets, I think.

"What... What happened?" I ask. "Did it work?"

Traylor smile
s. "See for yourself.” He pulls away from me.

A man stands in his place.

Handsome, rugged, yet deadly serious.

Altair
.

The rash on his face is gone!

There's just a few pock marks now–former tumors–small holes already healing over. I bolt to a sitting position, stunned.

"How long have I been out?" I ask, stunned.

"Almost a week," Altair replies casually. "Ursa said the Cortex put you into a coma. That's how you survived! Your brain cut your consciousness off from the pulse!"

"What?" I say, totally confused. I don't understand half of what he'd just said.

"You saved the world," a new voice tells me. Ursa's face hovers into view, and it takes me a second to recognize her.

She's beautiful.

She looks just like me–excepting the scars and half-healed wounds, of course. Even beaten as she is though, the beauty beneath still shines through. 

"
Mother!" I say, smiling at her. "We saved the world! I can't believe it! I couldn't have done it without you!" 

Tears escape Ursa's eyes as
she ducks down to hug me.

I return the embrace.
 

"Juno," Ursa whispers, holding me tight.

Looking over Ursa's shoulder, I see what's left of the Cortex.

The machine has been dismantl
ed, a man working on it, taking it apart piece by piece. He's very large and very muscular, with short white hair shaved into double mohawks at the sides. He turns toward us, hearing our conversation.

"Pilcrow?" I gasp
, stunned.

"Hello, Juno," the man
–Pilcrow–replies. "You did it."

There's something funny about the way he talks. He comes over and holds out a hand to me, as if in greeting. Reluctantly, I take it. He pulls me to my feet, taking me by surprise, hugging me tight.

"Thank you," he says. "The world is on a level playing field once more. No father shall suffer at the hands of the True Body Plan again." I look into his mouth and see that the reason he's talking so funny is that he has no teeth! The needle-like spikes he used to have are gone. In their place, small white nubs are coming in.

He's growing human teeth!

He smiles at me awkwardly. "They fell out when the pulse hit me," he explains, "along with all the hair on my body. Well, excepting my head, of course."

"You're... You're very handsome," I find myself saying with a blush.

I hear Altair grunt behind us.

I turn to address all of my friends.

"Are you sure the machine worked for the whole world?" I ask. "Have you guys left here since it happened?"

"I have," Pilcrow chimes in. "Everwinter is in shock, to be sure, but there's naught but humans out there now. Word has spread from Eversummer too. They say that the gods have forgiven us the Final Judgment, or some such nonsense. The True Body Plan is totally moot now. There's still a lot of confusion but, peace reigns, Juno."

"I can't believe it!" I say. I turn to Ursa. "Why didn't I die?"

My
Mother shrugs. "Call it the will of the gods," she replies. I scowl at that and she laughs. "I told you you were special, Juno."

"No," I say. "I'm not. I'm just a regular human. Just like the rest of you. I'm no longer the last human."